Poultry feed



United States, Patent POULTRY FEED Robert W. Colby, Lake Jackson, Tex., and Robert J., Mesler, Jr., Midland, Mich., assignors to The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application October 29, 1954 Serial No. 465,732

2 Claims. (Cl. 99-4) The invention is concerned with an improvement in poultry husbandry and is particularly directed to a novel poultry feed composition and a method for accelerating the growth of poultry.

According to the present invention, it has been discovered that, if small amounts of a polypropylene glycolethylene oxide condensation product are incorporated as a supplement in normal poultry feed, the growth of poultry fed therewith is accelerated. The supplemented feed has been found particularly advantageous as a ration for young chickens. It is among the advantages of the invention that the weight gains resulting from the consumption of the supplemented feed are accompanied by increased feed efiiciency; that is, the food is better utilized so that the consumption in pounds of feed per pound of weight gained by the fowl is lower than with unsupplemented feed.

The polypropylene glycol-ethylene oxide condensation products effective in the present invention are those prepared by reacting a polypropylene glycol with sufficient ethylene oxide to form a water miscible product. In general, the polypropylene glycols employed have molecular weights of at least about 750 and the amount of ethylene oxide used corresponds to at least about 30 percent of the weight of polypropylene glycol in the reaction mixture. The condensation reaction may be carried out by conventional means, as set forth, for example, in U. S. Patent 2,674,619. The condensation products are viscous liquids readily soluble in benzene and water and of relatively low solubility in aliphatic hydrocarbons. A preferred condensation product is obtained by reacting parts by weight of a polypropylene glycol having a molecular weight of about 2000 with about 10 to 14 parts of ethylene oxide.

The feed compositions of the invention may be prepared in any suitable fashion, provided that the polypropylene glycol-ethylene oxide condensation product is intimately admixed with the poultry nutrients. For example, the condensation product is dissolved in a solvent and the resulting solution distributed over the feed while the latter is rolled or tumbled in a mixer. Alternatively, the condensation product is added during a mixing or milling step in the preparation of a pre-mixed feed. A convenient procedure is to prepare a concentrate by thoroughly admixing an aqueous solution of the condensation product with a portion of the feed and then blending the concentrate with the remainder of the feed. Such concentrate may contain from about 1 to 4 percent or more by weight of the condensation product. In general, an effective amount of condensation product added to the feed is from about 0.01 to about 0.3 percent by weight of the total feed on an air-dry basis, preferably about 0.05 to about 0.1 percent by weight.

The following examples illustrate the invention but are not to be construed as limiting the same.

Example 1 A polypropylene glycol-ethylene oxide condensation weight of: a polypropylene glycol of. molecular weight of about 2000 with 53.4 parts by weight of ethylene oxide in the presenceofiabout 0;2.part of. sodiumhydroxide as a catalyst. This; condensation productwas a viscous liquid, soluble in benzene, water and methanoLinsoluble in heptane and having a specific gravity of 1.0.6 Qfat 25" C; and a cloud point of 52 -5 3 C for a percent aqueous solution thereof.

One part by weight of the above condensation product was dissolved in suflicient water to yield a solution of relatively low viscosity. This solution was added portionwise to from 20 to 40 parts of a commercial mixed poultry feed while the latter was being agitated in a mechanical mixer to prepare a concentrate. Mixing was continued until a substantially uniform dispersion of the condensation product throughout the concentrate was obtained. The concentrate was then admixed in a large rotary mixer with sufficient of the mixed poultry feed to produce 1000 parts of supplemented feed composition containing 0.1 percent by weight of the condensation product. The commerical mixed feed employed above was considered a balanced normal feed ration and had the following composition:

Ingredients Parts by weight Ground yellow corn 61.15

The supplemented feed composition was fed ad libitum to a group of 40 mixed sex, day-old New Hampshire chicks. The chicks were kept in heated brooders until they reached 4 weeks of age and then transferred to unheated metal coops. The weights of the birds and total weight of feed consumed were determined when the birds were 10 weeks old. As controls or checks, another group of 40 chicks from the same lot were similarly maintained and fed ad libitum with the balanced mixed feed without supplementation. In the 10 week period the birds eating the suplemented feed attained a mean weight of 3.22 pounds per bird, while that of the controls was 3.09 pounds per bird. This weight amounted to a 4.2 percent increase over the mean weight of the control birds. The feed consumed per pound of gain was about 3 percent less for the birds fed the supplemented composition than for the control birds fed the unmodified commercial feed. This corresponds to an increase of about 3 percent in feed efliciency.

Example 2 0.5 part by weight of the condensation product of Example l was admixed with the commercial mixed feed as in the preceding example to prepare a supplemented feed composition containing 0.05 percent by weight of the condensation product. The latter composition was employed in feeding tests carried out as in Example 1 for a period of 9 weeks. It was found that the feed efficiency for the chicks fed the supplemented composition increased 3.5 percent over the feed efiiciency for the chicks on the unsupplemented diet.

We claim:

1. A poultry feed composition which comprises poultry nutrients and in intimate admixture therewith an effective amount of polypropylene glycol-ethylene oxide 3 condensation product prepared by the reaction of a polypropylene glycol of molecular weight of at least 750 with at least 30 percent of its weight of ethylene oxide. 2. A composition according to claim 1, wherein the condensation product is employed in the amount of from about'0.01 to about 0.3 percent by weight of the feed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 OTHER REFERENCES Science News Letter, Mar. 15, 1952, page 164. Ely et al.: Distillers Feed Conference, Mar. 12, 1952, Distillers Feed Research Council, Cincinnati, Ohio, pages 

1. A POULTRY FEED COMPOSITION WHICH COMPRISES POULTRY NUTRIENTS AND IN INTIMATE ADMIXTURE THEREWITH AN EFFECTIVE AMOUNT OF POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL-ETHYLENE OXIDE CONDENSATION PRODUCT PREPARED BY THE REACTION OF A POLYPROPYLENE GLYCOL OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF AT LEAST 750 WITH AT LEAST 30 PERCENT OF ITS WEIGHT OFF ETHYLENE OXIDE. 